The Long Day

by Robert Harrison

  Screams and cries were heard as the students took their first hits. It was carnage and pain, but the unit stood its ground and did not break ranks. As quickly as the Tecate’ took out students, the students dropped Tecate’ with their handguns. The battle raged for almost an hour before the outcome was certain, but now the only Tecate’ left were those guarding the ships. The unit had held its ground.

  Devor yelled out, “For the father and Sapiea, attack!”

  The entire unit replied in unison, “For the father and Sapiea,” and a mass of students raced toward the remaining Tecate’, firing wildly as they surged ahead. When they got to the ships no Tecate’ remained on the grounds. They rushed into the vessels and went through all the rooms. Most rooms were empty, except for the bridge, which was occupied by a queen and two blue Tecate’. The queens and her drones were quickly dispatched, but not before they sent word to the other queens of this new threat. The Tecate’ had suffered their first defeat, and they would be rethinking their tactics.

  After the battle the squads regrouped and tended to the wounded. There were many casualties. More than eighty young Sapien lives had been snuffed out by the attacking monsters. People were sobbing, and shocked over the true brutality of war. It was not the stuff of heroes; it was chaos and pain.

  Word of the Tecate’ defeat spread quickly, and the ranks of Devor’s army swelled as more and more Sapiens came to join the fight. The ranks were replenished. The army was no longer just students. It was now people of all ages and from all walks of life. It was doctors, scientists, engineers, town merchants, and others. It was an army. It was the army of Sapiea.

  During the attack, Devor had noticed some individuals who showed extraordinary bravery and leadership in the heat of battle. He chose one of the best and assigned her to lead a new unit. They broke the army up into two units. The new unit commander followed Devor’s model and broke her unit into squads, each with their own leaders. Bishop was right to have sent Devor. He had built an army.

  Word came back that many of the new recruits were refugees from the occupied continents. Devor spoke with them to get as much information as he could about the Tecate’ forces. The reports were all similar. The Tecate’ were farming manava outside the cities, but living in the buildings and homes they captured from the Sapiens. They were an occupying force, and were going to need to be rooted out building by building, structure by structure. The war would be slow, block by block, urban combat.

  The escapees also told one other common story – Sapiens were being captured and imprisoned in massive storage complexes. No one was sure what was being done with the population, but many reported hearing rumors that the Tecate’ were eating them. Devor hoped this was wrong. It was too horrible to imagine.

  There were now two full battle-ready units on Educates, and it was just in time. Two wormholes opened up over Sapiea; the Maximus and the Adonis emerged. They hailed Devor Bon.

  “This is Sava Doll, commander of the Maximus calling Devor Bon.”

  Devor received the message. “This is Devor Bon. Have you retaken Dolis?”

  “Yes, Dolis is free.” Word of this leaked out almost immediately, and the sounds of clapping and cheering was heard all around the grounds.

  “Excellent,” replied Devor. “Do you have a Dolek force with you?”

  “Yes. What is your status on the ground?”

  “We have amassed a Sapien army with two full units. They are ready for action. We defeated a Tecate’ attack and prevented them from occupying Educates. We captured two Tecate cargo vessels. We are ready for you to join us. Here are my coordinates: 78.252.71.

  The Maximus and the Adonis began offloading the Dolek army. The two forces greeted one another, Sapien and Dolek allies. The ground was now filled with a massive army, over a thousand Dolek warriors led by Jason Smith, and another thousand Sapiens led by Devor Bon.

  The Tecate’ had been monitoring the communications and decided now was a good time to mount a surprise attack. They filled all three of their remaining cargo vessels with as many Tecate’ as they could fit, then took flight to the coordinates Devor Bon had aired. As they approached they saw a massive army on the ground; a far larger force than what they had anticipated.

  The Tecate’ ships did not carry sufficient forces to overtake this army, so they aborted the attack. The three cargo vessels flew overhead and set course for their retreat. Everyone on the ground started firing as they passed. The ships took heavy damage from ground fire. This would be the last attack of the Tecate’. They would now be fighting a defensive war.

  Devor and Jason met with the council on the Maximus.

  Devor spoke. “The Tecate’ have occupied the cities and have taken refuge in the homes and buildings they captured. They need to be purged one building at a time, block by block. This will be a slow process that may cost many lives.”

  The Nanda Dot asked, “We understand the queen creates new Tecate’ using manava nests. What if we destroyed the manava farms and waited for them to die out?”

  Devor replied, “That is a thought, but we’ve heard some disturbing reports that makes liberation more urgent. I was hoping to avoid this topic, but we keep hearing rumors that the Tecate’ are rounding up the population and using them as food. They are eating the Sapiens.”

  “What!” exclaimed Asha. “Is this true? I thought they ate the manava.”

  “We don’t know for sure, but we’ve heard similar stories from refugees on three different continents. Apparently Tecate’ are omnivorous.”

  Everyone was sickened. This was a horror.

  Bishop spoke. “This travesty cannot be allowed to continue. We must act immediately.

  “We know the Tecate’ still have three cargo ships on Sapiea. We also know they occupied the moon Barra and have a cargo vessel there are well. We must destroy those ships so the Tecate’ cannot flee. Sava, please order the Adonis to locate and destroy those vessels immediately.”

  Sava made the order.

  Bishop continued, “We have two units of over a thousand persons each, fully armed and ready. Each must be deployed to an occupied continent to purge the Tecate’. Devor and Jason, prepare to deploy by morning, please.”

  “It will be done,” replied Jason.

  “Yes,” confirmed Devor.

  The meeting was adjourned. Devor and Jason returned to the Educates to prepare their armies for attack. The Adonis scanned the surface of Sapiea and located the three cargo ships. They were large and easily detected from space. Shuttles from the Adonis commenced a bombing run against the cargo vessels on Sapiea and destroyed them. Then they headed to Barra.

  Jason and Devor made their plans for the next phase of the war. They would have to retake the continents one by one. The strategy was simple. They would prepare the invasion force and precede their landing with a massive bombing run over the manava fields. This would clear space to safely drop the troops. The troops would disembark, the ships would return, and the armies would clear the cities, building by building. The first targets would be the continents of Bapora and Gamida, the occupied continents nearest Educates. They readied to launch an attack the next morning.

  Bishop decided it was time to change the message being repeated to the Sapien people. The new message read as follows:

  “People of Sapiea. This is the creator and father from Vhamora.

  “Dolis has been freed!

  “Our forces are at Sapiea and the Tecate’ have already suffered a major defeat. An attack on Educates has been thwarted and the Tecate’ fleet is no more. Those continents which are not occupied are free, and will remain so. The Tecate’ have no means to mount further invasion.

  “Those continents which are occupied are being freed, but the Tecate’ have taken shelter in our cities and in our homes and must be driven out, building by building, house by house. They will not go easily. It will be a fight every inch of the way. It will take time to clear this scourge from Sapiea.

  “We ask that you remain perse
verant and stay brave. Help is on the way. Sapiea will soon be free.”

  This news gave hope to all Sapiens, both those on the free continents and those on continents yet to be freed. Everyone knew relief was coming.

  The next morning liberation of Bapora and Gamida began. As planned, it started with a bombing run to clear ground, then a massive troop drop. The troops were carried in a mish mash of vessels, including cargo ships, shuttles, personal transports, and whatever else they could find that flew.

  The troops amassed and marched toward the city, clearing every building along the way. Each time they stormed a new building they yelled out, “For the father and Sapiea.” This had become the battle cry of the war for Sapiea.

  The Doleks on Bapora entered the city first. Not too far in they stormed a building that was filled with Sapiens. They entered. It was a massive hall packed with people. The room had a terrible stench of rot and death. Blood and decomposing bodies littered the ground. It was true. The Tecate’ were eating the Sapiens.

  Those who survived the slaughter would later tell tales of horror. Tales of how the Tecate’ came in one at a time to eat. How they chose a person, knocked them to the ground, then hovered over them and ate their victim alive. They always ate the extremities first, starting with an arm or leg, eating their way in as they went - their victim screaming and convulsing in pain and agony the entire time. It was as though they did it that way on purpose, so as to cause as much suffering as possible before their victim succumbed to their wounds.

  The Sapien forces on Gamida found the same thing. Another slaughterhouse filled with Sapien steaks.

  When these reports came back to Bishop he wanted to go to the ground and fight the Tecate’ himself. He could not bear the horror of it. But Sava and Masa insisted he stay on board the Maximus. He was the father, and if he fell in battle it would be a terrible blow to the moral of all. He had a role to play, and he reluctantly played his part.

  While the fighting on the ground continued, the Adonis reached the moon Barra. When they arrived they were shocked to see that almost half the moon was covered with manava. They scanned the surface and found two vessels on the ground. One was the stolen cargo ship, the other was the mining vessel the Tecate’ captured when they first attacked Sapiea. They destroyed the cargo ship, but the mining vessel was dug deep into the surface and was unaffected by their bombs.

  Masa Sar, commander of the Adonis, decided the mining vessel was of no concern for the time being. Mining vessels were almost all machinery and had no room for passengers, or a Tecate’ horde. They had accomplished their goal for now. The Tecate’ could not flee Barra. The Adonis took detailed scans of the moon and returned to Sapiea. They would deal with the Tecate’ on Barra later.

  The war on Sapiea continued. As word of the slaughterhouses spread more and more people showed up to join the fight. The army was now five thousand strong. All the weapons had been dispensed. Bishop considered returning to Indus for more weapons, but the army was progressing well. Bapora and Gamida had been freed, and the armies had already moved to the next two continents.

  It took over four months of fighting, but Sapiea was finally free. The last of the Tecate’ had been purged from the planet. Bishop updated the message to the Sapiea:

  “People of Sapiea. This is the creator and father from Vhamora.

  “Sapiea is free!

  “Rejoice and be happy! Thanks and love to all the people of Sapiea and our friends from Dolis and Aquita. May this day always be remembered.”

  The people of Sapiea celebrated wildly. Everyone was happy. The Tecate’ scourge had been purged from Sapiea, but Bishop knew it was not over. There were still things to be done. He convened a council meeting. After opening the meeting, he proposed a series of motions.

  “The events which have occurred have shown us that interplanetary cooperation is good for all, therefore I propose a permanent interplanetary council be established to rule on issues that affect multiple planets. The interplanetary council should always include of at least one representative from each participating planet. If, in the future, more planets with sentient life are discovered, we must also provide a mechanism to allow those planets to join the interplanetary council.

  “Does everyone understand and agree?”

  Voted unanimously.

  “We have also seen the importance of having defensive capabilities. We may have freed our planets from the Tecate’, but other threats may be yet undiscovered. Therefore, I propose that each planet represented on the council be required to maintain an active defense force at the ready, the details of which can be worked later.”

  The Nanda Dot spoke. “We are sea creatures. We may not be able to assist with the defense of continents, but I believe we could create a force to assist with the defense of oceans and seas. Would that be of value?”

  “I believe it would,” interjected Asha. “We have oceans on Sapiea.”

  “We have seas on Dolis too,” added madi-tah. “I can see value in that.”

  “Then we will do so,” replied Dot.

  “All agreed?”

  Voted unanimously.

  Bishop continued, “The government of Sapiea is in disarray. The planet needs a new council. I propose that Devor Nor be left on Sapiea to help with reorganization. He can assist with the formation of an interim council and continue to command the security forces, until such time as a proper council can be duly elected. ”

  “All agreed?”

  Voted unanimously.

  “The Dolek monda-ro was crucial in the creation of the Dolek army. I propose that, until such time as Dolis can reorganize its government, that monda-ro be assigned command of the Dolek army.”

  “All agreed?”

  Voted unanimously.

  “I propose that this council assume the responsibilities as the first interplanetary council. I think we actually have that role anyway, but let’s make it official.”

  “All agreed?”

  Voted unanimously.

  “I believe we have also seen the need for the capability to defend ourselves in space. Therefore, I propose that a fleet of ships with armaments be permanently maintained and serve under orders of the interplanetary council. I think the Maximus and the Adonis could be the first ships in that fleet, but they are Sapien ships and the Sapiens would need to agree to that.”

  Sava said, “I have no problem with that. I think it’s a good idea.”

  Asha added, “I agree, it’s a good idea.”

  The other Sapiens also agreed.

  “So we all agree?” asked Bishop.

  Voted unanimously.

  “Lastly, I believe we should honor those who fought against the Tecate’. I propose we create honors for the ‘Battle of Dolis’ and the ‘Battle of Sepia’, and that everyone who fought in these battles, whether alive or fallen, be awarded these honors, and that special honors be awarded to Jason Smith and Devor Bon who led our forces to victory.”

  “All agreed?”

  Voted unanimously.

  Bishop wrapped up his proposals and added, “What we have done here today is historic. We have ushered in a new age of cooperation and established the first interplanetary alliance. I thank everyone here for their cooperation and willingness to participate.”

  Asha chimed in, “I have a proposal too. If not for the leadership of Bishop Avery, I am certain we would have fallen to the Tecate’, and none of this would be possible. I hereby propose that for all time, Bishop Avery be assigned the official title of ‘Creator and Father from Vhamora’. We owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. Do we all agree?”

  Not only did the council unanimously agree, they all stood up and clapped and cheered. The ovation went on for some time.

  When it quieted down, Bishop concluded, “Thank you everyone. It was my honor to know you all and serve as best I could, but our work is not yet done. We still had to deal with the Tecate’ on Barra and Tecama, and there is still one more missing ship – the deep spa
ce interstellar craft the Tecate’ had commandeered. The war is over for Sapiea, but not yet for the Maximus. We must complete our mission.

  “Sava, please set course for Barra.”

  The Maximus continued on.

  Chapter 17: Final Acts

  On the way to the moon Barra, the team reviewed the scans made by the Adonis. They showed the great resorts of Barra to be cold and inactive. All the inhabitants fled shortly after the Tecate’ landed, so the cities were abandoned. Only one city, the resort of Lavada, showed any activity. That city was occupied by Tecate’.